From Westeros to Middle Earth

Chapter six:

Laerornien's eyes snap open and her head whips up, her chest rises and falls rapidly as she tries to calm her racing heart. Once she calms down she glances out the window she was sleeping beside to see that the sun is now up. Picking up the bow that was set against the wall beside her, she puts it on her back as she takes a seat at the large table where all the dwarves sit, eating and drinking as they discuss where to go next. Thorin sends me a concerned look when he sees the look on my face, i send him a reassuring smile. A large, muscular, dirty looking man walks into the room, filling up everyone's drinks.
"So you are the one they call Oakenshield. Tell me...why is Azog the defiler hunting you?" Baeorn asks Thorin.
"You know of Azog? How?" He replies.
"My people were the first to live in the mountains...before the orcs came down from the north. The defiler killed most of my family. But some he enslaved. Not for work you understand...but for sport." He explains. I notice Bilbo glance at the broken cuff and small piece of chain on Baeorn's wrist, Baeorn continues, "caging skin-changers and torturing them seemed to amuse him."
"There are others like you?" Bilbo asks the man.
"Once there were many."
"And now?"
"Now there is only one." There's silence before he continues. "You need to reach the mountain before the last days of autumn."
"Before Durin's day falls, yes." Gandalf answers.
"You are running out of time."
"Which is why we must go through Mirkwood." Gandalf agrees. A small smile creeps onto my face at the mention of my home before it drops at Baeorn's next words.
"A darkness lies upon that forest. Fell things creep beneath those trees. There is an alliance between the orcs of Moria and the necromancer in Dol Guldur. I would not venture there except in great need." Baeorn explains.
"We will take the elven road. Their path is still safe." Gandalf says.
"Safe?! The wood elves are not like their kin. They are less wise...and more dangerous. But it matters not." Baeorn argues. My head spinning with questions, what could've happened while I was gone.
"What do you mean?" Thorin asks Baeorn.
"These lands are crawling with orcs. Their numbers are growing. And you are on foot. You will never reach the forest alive."
The dwarves share nervous looks but I don't pay attention to any of them too consumed in my thoughts about what has happened to the forest and what happened in my dream. How am I supposed to tell my father that I now own three of the very creatures that caused him so much pain in the past? How will he react if he does find out? How will he react when he finds out I'm helping dwarves? And not just any dwarves, the same dwarves that he refused to help all those years ago? I'm pulled out of my spiral by a hand on my shoulder. I look over to see Bilbo giving me a concerned look, I send him a small smile to reassure him that I'm fine. He returns the smile before giving my shoulder a squeeze and turning back to the conversation, placing his hand on my forearm as a way to comfort me without the others noticing. Besides Gandalf, Bilbo is the only one in the group that knows everything about me, and my dragons. He understands why I'm nervous about going through Mirkwood with the company.
"I don't like dwarves, they're greedy...and blind." Baeorn says picking up a mouse, "Blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than their own...but orcs I hate more." He says glancing at Thorin. "What do you need?"
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The company finishes loading up their packs on the beautiful black and white ponies as me and Gandalf ride bigger horses.
"Go now while you have the light. Your hunters are not far behind." Are Baeorn's parting words.
We ride as quickly as we can to the entrance of the forest. Gandalf is the first to get off his horse and approach the elven gate as the company unloads their packs and weapons, strapping them to their own backs.
"Set the ponies loose, let them return to their master." Says Gandalf.
"This forest feels...sick. As if a disease lies upon it." Says Bilbo as he looks into the trees. "Is there no way around?" He asks.
"Not unless we go 200 miles north. Or twice that distance...south." Says Gandalf as he walks a few short meters into the forest, looking around carefully. I stand at the entrance watching him. I see him pull weeds off a statue to reveal a red symbol. He turns around, briskly exiting the woods.
"Not my horse! I need it!" He shouts so the dwarves don't set his horse free like they did the ponies.
"What?" Some of the company members mumble, confused as they turn to the wizard.
"Your not leaving us?" Bilbo asks.
"I would not do this unless I had to. I'll be waiting for you at the overlook before the slopes of Erebor. Keep the map and key safe." Gandalf says making his way to his horse before turning to Thorin. "Do not enter that mountain without me."
"This is not the Greenwood of old. The very air of the forest is heavy with illusion. It'll seek to enter your mind and lead you astray."
"Lead us astray. What does that mean?" Bilbo asks quietly.
"You must stay on the path. Do not leave it. If you do, you'll never find it again. No matter what may come, stay on the path!" Gandalf shouts back to us as he rides away.
"Come on. We must reach the mountain before the sun sets on Durin's day." Says Thorin, leading the company into the forest.
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After walking for an unknown amount of time, the path gets covered with leaves, Thorin kicks some to the left.
"The path goes this way." Dwalin says from behind him as he continues to lead us for a few hours.
"Air. I need air." Says Bofur.
"My head, it's swimming!" Lin exclaims.
"What's happening?" Asks one of the dwarves when the company stops walking.
"Keep moving. Nori...why have we stopped?" Thorin asks, moving to the front of the line.
"The path, it's disappeared." He replies, pointing down the edge of the cliff.
"What's going on?"
"We've lost the path."
"Find it. All of you, look. Look for the path!" Thorin orders.
The company starts wandering every which way, searching for the path as the forest's illusions begin to work on the company, all except Laerornien.
"I don't remember this a bit. None of it's familiar."
"It's got to be here."
"What hour is it?"
"I don't know. I don't even know what day it is."
"Is there no end to this accursed forest!" Thorin shouts over the dwarves nonsense.
I look over to see Bilbo sitting on a tree root, plucking at a think piece of spider web, causing it to send vibrations up into the trees.
"Bilbo..." I try to tell him to stop but it's too late, he plucks at the web again, sending another round of vibrations into the trees. I take out my bow and load an arrow, knowing what's coming.
"Were lost." One of the dwarves says.
"We're not lost, we keep heading east." Thorin says.
"But which way is east? We've lost the sun."
"I thought you were an expert." They bicker again.
"I'm not the one who lost the sun."
The dwarves start to push and shove each other as they argue back and forth, the forest's enchantments weighing heavily on their minds.